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  #1  
Old 7th March 2011, 09:00 PM
VickiB VickiB is offline
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Default Darkening green foliage

I think I know the "book" answer to my question, but it's not exactly working for me. Perhaps some of you with more experience can help me. I have a pretty specific interest: photographing statues in cemeteries. I find that most statues are about the same tonal value as most of the foliage around them. Since removing the trees really isn;t an option, I would like to darken the foliage to differentiate the foliage from the gray of the statues. I have tried a red filter after yellow didn't help at all. Still I am not seeing the results I had hoped for. Any advice?
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Old 7th March 2011, 10:24 PM
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Perhaps a magenta filter will help.
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Old 7th March 2011, 10:37 PM
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I would have thought one of the filters would have helped.
That's a pity, as I will be shooting this same subject combination soon.

You could, depending on the shot, try steering some extra light onto the stonework with a reflector of some sort, or even a flash.
How about narrow depth of field on the stone, and 'bokeh' the foliage.

I will take notice of the advice that you receive here.

JP
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Old 8th March 2011, 12:33 AM
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I'm surprised you're not getting the effect you're after with the red filter.

You get different strengths of filter e.g. light red and dark red, do you know which one you're using?

If there is a lot of reflection on the leaves then you could try a polariser filter to reduce the glare?

And be careful if you're tempted to stack filters because this could cause vignetting (darkened corners) i.e. a polariser plus a red filter on top of each other.
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Old 8th March 2011, 08:19 AM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
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You need to be on the other side of the colour wheel to darken a colour, so as has been said, something between deep orange and red should work. The trouble is they will have the side effect of darkening shadows or removing haze too.
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Old 8th March 2011, 08:53 AM
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Vicki,

I would try an orange filter if you have one.

Also if the foliage isn't evergreen you could try shooting during the winter when it is not there.

Neil.
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Old 8th March 2011, 09:45 AM
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What about going in the other direction and using a green filter to make the foliage appear lighter? Perhaps to blend in with the sky rather than be contrasted against it.


Steve.
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Old 8th March 2011, 10:31 AM
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What sort of foliage are we talking about? Light yellow/green? Dark green?

If you're stuck, pehaps consider infrared...?!
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Old 8th March 2011, 11:31 AM
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To darken green foliage, you'd use an orange or even a red filter for a stronger effect. If you wanted to lighten the foliage, then a green filter would suit best or even a yellow/green. The orange and red will also make the clouds stand out nicely with a blue sky.
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Old 8th March 2011, 11:42 AM
DavidH DavidH is offline
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If you want to darken green foliage, a green filter will lighten so the logical deduction is that its complementary magenta filter is needed.
I have a filter that is intended to reduce the green cast on colour film that is exposed under fluorescent light. I believe it's called a FDD filter and it's magenta in colour. I haven't tried it with B&W film, but if you can buy or borrow one it should be worth a try.
If I get the chance to try it in the near future I'll let you know the result.
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